Systems and methods providing known shipper information for shipping indicia

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods which provide known shipper information in association with unknown shipper indicia as disclosed. Embodiments operate to collect information regarding a shipper and associate the shipper information with unknown shipper indicia. Where shipper information satisfactory to a known shipper requirement has not otherwise been collected, embodiments operate to perform a transaction matrix analysis to determine a shipper identification risk level. Such transaction matrix analysis may operate to analyze multiple pieces of shipper information (e.g., collected from different sources) to provide a determination as to a level of risk that the shipper information correctly and/or uniquely identifies the shipper. A shipping service provider, when accepting an item for shipment and/or when processing the item during shipment, may use the unknown shipper indicia to access shipper information associated therewith in accordance to embodiments of the invention to provide an appropriate level of shipping services.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to co-pending and commonly assignedU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/030,739 entitled “Systems andMethods for Distributed Activation of Postage,” filed Feb. 13, 2008,Ser. No. 13/172,066 entitled “Systems and Methods Using MobileCommunication Handsets for Providing Postage,” filed Jun. 29, 2011, andSer. No. 13/286,854 entitled “Perpetual Value Bearing Shipping Labels,”filed Nov. 1, 2011, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to shipping services and, moreparticularly, to providing known shipper information for shippingindicia used in providing shipping services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The shipment of various items, such as letters and parcels, by bothbusinesses and individuals is commonplace today, facilitating commerceand communication. Accordingly, a number of shipping service providers,such as the United States Postal Service (USPS), Federal Express(FEDEX), United Parcel Service (UPS), etc., exist to provide a varietyof shipping services to shippers, whether businesses or individuals.Accordingly, shippers may use one or more such shipping service providerto conveniently ship a variety of items from one or more shipperlocation to one or more recipient location.

Often, some form of indicia of payment for shipping services will beused with respect to the items being shipped. For example, when availingthemselves of the shipping services of a shipping service provider, ashipper may provide shipping indicia (e.g., in the form of a stamp, apostage meter indicia, etc.) affixed to the item being shipped to showthat prepayment for the shipping service has been made. Some suchshipping indicia, such postage meter indicia generated by a postagemeter licensed to the shipper, may be uniquely associated with theshipper and thus provide information regarding the identity of theshipper (referred to herein as known shipper indicia). However, othersuch shipping indicia, such as traditional stamps which provide fungibleshipping indicia, themselves provide no information regarding theidentity of the shipper (referred to herein as unknown shipper indicia).Such unknown shipper indicia are often pre-produced (e.g., in advance ofshipping activity in which they are to be utilized) and are provided ina form which is delivery destination and package content agnostic (andmay also be shipper agnostic), and thus may be used by any shipper asneeded and appropriate. Additionally such unknown shipper indicia may beproduced using a shared meter (e.g., a meter provided for use by patronsof a reseller or service provider, such as Amazon.com, Ebay, etc.)wherein the indicia generated fail to themselves provide known shipperinformation.

The foregoing shipping service providers may utilize their own fleet ofvehicles (e.g., trucks, aircraft, motor scooters, etc.) and/or “forhire” vehicles (e.g., trucks of an over the road trucking service orless than a truck load service, charter aircraft, freight rail service,freight maritime service, etc.) to transport items being shipped betweenvarious points (e.g., shipper location, shipping service hub or station,recipient location, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, such shippingservice providers may utilize common carrier vehicle fleets (e.g.,commercial passenger aircraft, trains, busses, etc.) to transport itemsbeing shipped.

Recent events, such as political unrest and terrorist activity, haveresulted in increased risk to public safety and security in manypreviously and otherwise safe situations. For example, although thecarrying of large numbers of passengers by common carrier and/or routingcommon carrier vehicles through, under, or over heavily populated areastypically presents an acceptable risk to the safety of both passengersand bystanders, the introduction of certain items (e.g., explosives,radioactive matter, bio-hazardous materials, etc.) to such commoncarrier vehicles, particularly if equipped with timed or proximitycontrol circuitry, could introduce an unacceptable risk to safety.Information regarding the identity of the shipper may mitigate suchrisks. For example, merely collecting information regarding the identityof a shipper may discourage shipment of improper items. Moreover,knowing the identity of shippers allows screening of items to avoidshipping items from suspected or known miscreants and/or facilitatesinvestigation of incidents resulting from shipment of items.

Such shipper information may be useful beyond mitigating risk to publicsafety and security. For example, fraud with respect to payment forshipping services is always a risk for shipping service providers. Theaforementioned shipper information may be utilized in discouragingand/or investigating instances of fraud.

Accordingly, at least one shipping service provider has introduced aknown shipper requirement with respect to the shipping of some items. Inparticular, the USPS implements a “known mailer” requirement withrespect to some packages shipped (e.g., packages larger than a flat orenvelope), and thus requires information about the shipper to becollected and included in the shipping indicia used in association withthe shipping of such items. For example, for a shipper having an ongoingrelationship with the shipping service provider or its agent (e.g., ashipper having an existing shipper account, and thus informationidentifying the shipper has previously been collected) the USPS allowsthe use of shipping indicia generated using the shipper's account (e.g.,meter identification information) to provide identification of theshipper. However, for a casual shipper (e.g., an individual shipperproviding cash payment for shipping services to an agent of the shippingservice provider) the USPS requires that the identification of theshipper and/or other information be collected by the agent prior toaccepting the item for shipping. Accordingly, the availability ofshipping services with respect to some items (e.g., items larger than aflat or an envelope) may be limited and/or inconvenient with respect tocertain shippers (e.g., a casual shipper using fungible shippingindicia). Moreover, in addition to the collection of shipper informationbeing inconvenient to both the shipper and shipping service provideragent, the information collected is prone to inaccuracies (e.g.,mistakes in the information as provided by the shipper and/or asunderstood by the agent, false information provided by the shipper,etc.). Accordingly, the present known shipper requirements present anoften unsatisfactory solution to the risk mitigation sought.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to systems and methods which provideknown shipper information in association with unknown shipper indicia.Embodiments of the invention operate to collect information regarding ashipper and associate the shipper information with unknown shipperindicia. For example, at a time of purchase of unknown shipper indiciashipping information is collected and associated with the purchasedunknown shipper indicia. Thus, when the unknown shipper indicia is usedthe shipper information may be used to meet a known shipper requirementimplemented by a shipping service provider.

Shipper information may be collected actively (i.e., solicited from theshipper) and/or passively (i.e., derived or collected from transactioninformation) according to embodiments of the invention. For example,when purchasing unknown shipper indicia a shipper may be solicited topresent identification information, such as in the form of verifiedidentification credentials and/or other user provided identification(e.g., identification card, debit/credit account card, biometric sample,address, telephone number, electronic/email address, etc.). Additionallyor alternatively, identification information may be obtained usingtransaction information (e.g., payment information, purchased productdelivery address information, computer “fingerprint” information, etc.)from the purchase of the unknown shipper indicia. Some or all suchshipper information is stored in association with the purchased unknownshipper indicia, such as in a database available to the shipping serviceprovider associating the shipper information with information unique tothe purchased unknown shipper indicia, according to embodiments of theinvention.

Embodiments of the invention implement a multi-level shipper informationcollecting technique. For example, embodiments may operate to determineif shipper information satisfactory to a known shipper requirement hasbeen collected, whether actively or passively, and if so suchinformation may be associated with particular unknown shipper indiciasuch that items bearing those unknown shipper indicia are acceptable fora first group of shipping services (e.g., shipping services using any ofcommon carriers and/or private carriers for transportation of shippeditems). Such embodiments, where shipper information satisfactory to aknown shipper requirement has not been collected, may further operate toactively solicit shipper information and/or passively gather shipperinformation for performing a transaction matrix analysis to determine ashipper identification risk level. Such transaction matrix analysis mayoperate to analyze multiple pieces of shipper information (e.g.,collected from different sources) to provide a determination as to alevel of risk that the shipper information correctly and/or uniquelyidentifies the shipper. This shipper information and/or the shipperidentification risk level are preferably associated with particularunknown shipper indicia. Depending upon the shipper identification risklevel, items bearing the unknown shipper indicia may be acceptable for afirst group of shipping services (e.g., shipping services using any ofcommon carriers and/or private carriers for transportation of shippeditems) or restricted to a second group of shipping services (e.g.,shipping services which do not use common carriers for transportation ofshipped items). Although first and second groups of shipping servicesare mentioned in the foregoing example, it should be appreciated thatshipper information of embodiments of the invention may be utilized withrespect to parsing items to be shipped between any number of shippingservices.

Transaction matrix analysis performed according to embodiments of theinvention is not limited to the use of information available at a timeof purchase of the unknown shipper indicia. For example, embodiments ofthe invention may perform a transaction matrix analysis (or operate tosupplement a previously transaction matrix analysis) at a time ofshipping the item and/or during processing of a shipped item. Inoperation according to embodiments of the invention, the shippingservice provider may analyze information available on or with a shippeditem (e.g., return address provided on a shipping label, carrier itempickup location, first shipper terminal drop off location, etc.) in atransaction matrix analysis to determine if the information isconsistent with other shipper information associated with the shippingindicia borne by the item. Such analysis, where not the initialtransaction matrix analysis, may operate to alter a previouslydetermined shipper identification risk level determination or, where itis the initial transaction matrix analysis, may operate to initiallyestablish a shipper identification risk level determination.

A shipping service provider, when accepting an item for shipment and/orwhen processing the item during shipment, may use the unknown shipperindicia to access shipper information associated therewith in accordancewith embodiments of the invention to provide an appropriate level ofshipping services. Accordingly, known shipper type restrictions may beimplemented with various forms of unknown shipper indicia, even withfungible shipping indicia purchased by casual shippers. Moreover, theshipper information collection techniques of embodiments is not onlyless inconvenient to both the shipper and shipping service provideragent, the information collected is less prone to inaccuracies as aresult of the transaction matrix analysis provided.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of the present invention in order that the detaileddescription of the invention that follows may be better understood.Additional features and advantages of the invention will be describedhereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. Itshould be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conceptionand specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by thoseskilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic ofthe invention, both as to its organization and method of operation,together with further objects and advantages will be better understoodfrom the following description when considered in connection with theaccompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, thateach of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration anddescription only and is not intended as a definition of the limits ofthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference isnow made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a high level block diagram of a system adapted to provideknown shipper type information for unknown shipper indicia according toembodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of operation of the system of FIG. 1 toprovide known shipper type information for unknown shipper indiciaaccording to embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a high level block diagram of a system adapted to provideknown shipper type information for unknown shipper indicia according toembodiments of the invention. Specifically, system 100 is adapted togather shipper information, whether actively or passively collected, andto associate that shipper information with one or more unknown shipperindicia, such as shipping indicium 170. Such shipper information may bestored in one or more database, such as a database of postage server120, in association with information identifying one or more unknownshipper indicia for use by a shipping service provider (represented byshipping service provider 110) in providing shipping services. Forexample, the shipping service provider may scan shipping indicium 170,such as may be borne upon item 190 to be shipped using shipping servicesof the shipping service provider, to access shipper information for adetermination regarding particular shipping services (e.g., shippingservices using freight carrier truck 111, commercial passenger aircraft112, etc.) to be made available in shipping the item.

Unknown shipper indicia as may be provided known shipper informationaccording to embodiments of the invention may be provided in many forms.For example, unknown shipper indicia used according to embodiments ofthe invention comprises a postage stamp type configuration, such asshown by the embodiment of unknown shipper indicium 170 a, or a meterindicia, such as shown by the embodiment of unknown shipper indicium 170b, etc. It should be appreciated that although the embodiment of unknownshipper indicium 170 a is shown in association with point of sale system150 (discussed below) and the embodiment of unknown shipper indicium 170b is shown in association with computer system 160 (also discussedbelow) in the illustrated embodiment, this association is merelyexemplary. Either or both such embodiments of unknown shipper indiciamay be utilized in association with any of these systems. Moreover, theunknown shipper indicia as may be utilized according to embodiments ofthe invention are not limited to the particular exemplary embodimentsillustrated. Such unknown shipper indicia may comprise variousfunctional and/or ornamental features. For example, unknown shipperindicia provided according to embodiments of the invention may beprovided as independent shipping indicia for affixing to items (e.g.,letters, parcels, etc.), may comprise more robust shipping products,such as shipping labels as shown and described in the above referencedpatent application entitled “Perpetual Value Bearing Shipping Labels,”etc.

A functional feature of unknown shipper indicia utilized according toembodiments of the invention comprises substantially unique indiciaidentifying information (i.e., information which is not repeated intypical use and thus may be relied upon as unique information) foridentifying the unknown shipper indicium or a plurality of unknownshipper indicia (e.g., all unknown shipper indicia of a retail salesunit comprising a plurality of unknown shipper indicia). For example, aserial number or other substantially unique identifier may be providedas indicia identifying information to identify a single unknown shipperindicium or a set of unknown shipper indicia purchased by a shipper.Such indicia identifying information may be provided in machine readableform (e.g., bar code such as PDF 417, data matrix, intelligent mail barcode, postnet, etc.), such as within machine readable portion 171,and/or human readable form (e.g., alphanumeric characters, symbols,shapes, etc.), such as within human readable portion 172. Otherfunctional features of unknown shipper indicia utilized according toembodiments of the invention may comprise a facing identification mark(FIM), indicium value information, shipping service class information,etc.

An ornamental feature of unknown shipper indicia utilized according toembodiments of the invention comprise decorative graphic or imageinformation, such as may provide an image of a historic statesman, animage of an event or celebration, a decorative graphic, an advertisementmessage or logo, etc. Such ornamental information may be provided withinornamental portion 173, for example. Other functional features ofunknown shipper indicia utilized according to embodiments of theinvention may comprise coloration to match packaging material of itemsto be shipped, sizing and/or shaping of the substrate used to form theshipping indicium, etc.

A shipper, such as shipper 180, may obtain unknown shipping indicia,such as unknown shipper indicium 170, in a number of ways. For example,embodiments of the invention may provide for a shipper obtaining unknownshipper indicia through retail purchase, online purchase andfulfillment, and/or on-demand generation and printing.

In accordance with embodiments herein, shipper 180 may enter a retailestablishment and select one or more pre-produced unknown shipperindicia for purchase. The selected unknown shipper indicia may beprocessed by point of sale system 150 to perform a purchase transaction.For example, scanner 153 may be utilized to scan the selected unknownshipper indicia (e.g., to obtain indicia identifying informationthereon) and/or a keyboard or other input device of point of saleterminal 151 may be used to input information regarding the selectedunknown shipper indicia. Likewise, scanner 153 may be utilized to scanuser provided identification information (e.g., to obtain a biometricsample, such as fingerprint, iris print, or voice print, to obtaininformation from a card or other source, such as credit or debit card,identification card, membership card, etc.) and/or a keyboard or otherinput device of point of sale terminal 151 may be used to input userprovided identification information. Point of sale system 150 maycommunicate with one or more of shipping service provider 110, postageserver system 120, identification server system 130, and third partysystems 141-142 via network 101 to perform payment processing, collectshipper information, to provide transaction matrix analysis, unknownshipper indicia activation, and/or associate shipper information withunknown shipper indicia. Techniques for activation of pre-printedindicia as shown and described in the above referenced United Statespatent applications entitled “Systems and Methods for DistributedActivation of Postage” and “Systems and Methods Using MobileCommunication Handsets for Providing Postage” may be utilized accordingto embodiments of the invention.

Although the foregoing exemplary embodiment for obtaining unknownshipper indicia through a retail transaction is described with referenceto pre-produced unknown shipper indicia, embodiments herein may providesuch unknown shipper indicia for retail purchase which are notpre-produced. For example, unknown shipper indicia may be generated ondemand at point of sale system 150, such as through cooperation of pointof sale terminal 151 and postage server 120 to generate on-demandunknown shipper indicia for printing by printer 152. Techniques for thegeneration and activation of postage indicia as shown and described inthe aforementioned United States patent applications entitled “Systemsand Methods for Distributed Activation of Postage” and “Systems andMethods Using Mobile Communication Handsets for Providing Postage” maybe utilized in obtaining such indicia via retail transaction accordingto embodiments of the invention.

Moreover, in accordance with embodiments herein, shipper 180 may accessan ecommerce site, such as may be provided by shipping service provider110, postage server system 120, and/or any of third party systems 142,using computer system 160 via network 101, and select one or moreunknown shipper indicia for purchase. The selected unknown shipperindicia may be pre-produced for selection by and delivery to the shipperand/or generated on demand, such as through cooperation of postageserver system 120 and computer system 160. Techniques for the generationand activation of postage indicia as shown and described in theaforementioned United States patent applications entitled “Systems andMethods for Distributed Activation of Postage” and “Systems and MethodsUsing Mobile Communication Handsets for Providing Postage” may beutilized in obtaining such indicia via ecommerce transactions accordingto embodiments of the invention. Unknown shipper indicia which isgenerated on demand may be generated at a location remote to the user(e.g., at a site of postage server 120 or at shipping service provider110) and made available for pickup by the shipper or delivered to theshipper. Alternatively, unknown shipper indicia which is generated maybe printed locally to the shipper, such as using printer 162 coupled tocomputer 161.

As with the unknown shipper indicia obtained through a more traditionalretail transaction, unknown shipper indicia obtained through theaforementioned ecommerce transaction may be processed (e.g., by computersystem 161 and/or postage server system 120) to perform a purchasetransaction. For example, information available to or stored by postageserver system 120 may be utilized to identify the selected unknownshipper indicia (e.g., to obtain indicia identifying informationthereon). Moreover, scanner 163 may be utilized to scan user providedidentification information (e.g., to obtain a biometric sample, such asfingerprint or iris print, to obtain information from a card or othersource, such as credit or debit card, identification card, membershipcard, etc.) and/or a keyboard or other input device of computer 161 maybe used to input user provided identification information. Computersystem 160 and/or postage server system 120 may communicate with one ormore of shipping service provider 110, postage server system 120,identification server system 130, and third party systems 141-142 vianetwork 101 to perform payment processing, collect shipper information,to provide transaction matrix analysis, unknown shipper indiciaactivation, and/or associate shipper information with unknown shipperindicia.

From the foregoing it can be appreciated that postage server system 120,identification server system 130, third party systems 141-142, point ofsale terminal 151, and computer 161 of embodiments compriseprocessor-based systems operating under control of one or moreinstruction set (e.g., software, firmware, applet, etc.) to provideoperation as described herein. Such processor-based systems may comprisea central processing unit (CPU) (e.g., a processor from the PENTIUM orCORE line of processors available from Intel Corporation), memory (e.g.,random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), flash memory, diskmemory, optical memory, etc.) storing the aforementioned one or moreinstruction set and/or other data used herein, and appropriateinput/output circuitry and devices (e.g., network interface card (NIC),keyboard, digital pointer, display screen, peripheral interface,microphone, speaker, wireless interface, etc.). Peripheral devices, suchas one or more printer, scanner (e.g., optical scanner, barcode scanner,and/or biometric sample scanner), etc. may be included for use with anyor all of the foregoing processor-based systems according to embodimentsherein.

Network 101 providing communication between one or more of shippingservice provider 110, postage server system 120, identification serversystem 130, third party systems 141-142, point of sale terminal 151, andcomputer 161 of embodiments may comprise various forms of network links.For example, network 101 may comprise one or more of the public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), the Internet, an extranet, an intranet, alocal area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), a cellular communication network, a wireless network,and/or the like.

Irrespective of the particular way in which a shipper may obtain unknownshipper indicia, one or more of user items may be utilized in collectingshipper information according to embodiments herein. Accordingly, useritems 181-185, specifically shown as identification card 181,charge/debit card 182, membership card 183, check 184, and personaldigital device 185, are shown in association with shipper 180 in theembodiment of FIG. 1. It should be appreciated, however, that theparticular user items shown are merely exemplary and thus other useritems may be utilized in providing or collecting shipper informationaccording to embodiments of the invention.

Identification card 181 (such as may comprise a postal identificationcard, national identification card, or other verified identificationcredentials) may be used to provide known shipper information acceptableto a shipping service provider. In accordance with embodiments of theinvention, identification card 181 provides verified identificationcredentials, such as may be verified with respect to the individualissued the card by traditional investigative techniques, separate sourceverification techniques (e.g., providing data through a separate pathavailable to the individual who's identity is being verified, such asdeposit of a particular amount to the individual's bank account orleaving a message in voice mail of the individual's telephone or in anemail account of the individual, which must be reported correctly backto the verifier by the individual), etc. Identification card 181 may beutilized in combination with various devices of system 100 for reliablyassociating known shipper information with unknown shipper indicia. Forexample, scanner 153 or 163 may be used, depending upon the system usedby a shipper in obtaining the unknown shipper indicia, to obtain abiometric sample of the individual presenting identification card 181.Additionally or alternatively, other information such as password, voiceprint, iris print, photographic image, etc. captured at the point of thetransaction may be used with identification card 181 of embodiments.This captured information in combination with information fromidentification card 181 may be utilized, perhaps by identificationserver system 130, to provide reliable known shipper information inassociation with unknown shipper indicia for use according toembodiments herein. Accordingly, such verified identificationcredentials may be relied upon to provide known shipper informationwithout collection and/or analysis of additional shipper informationaccording to embodiments of the invention.

Additionally or alternatively, shipper information which is unverified,or perhaps not verified for use in providing known shipper information,may be utilized according to embodiments of the invention. Accordingly,information which is available from or may be obtained usingcharge/debit card 182 (e.g., bank issued credit or debit card having oneor more user financial account and/or account holder informationassociated therewith), membership card 183 (e.g., wholesale clubmembership, rewards program membership, etc. having member informationassociated therewith), check 184 (e.g., negotiable instrument having oneor more financial account and/or account holder information associatedtherewith), and personal digital device 185 (e.g., cellular phone orpersonal digital assistant having one or more electronic address, phonenumber, and/or account holder information associated therewith) may beutilized in providing shipper information according to embodimentsherein. Shipper information may be obtained directly or derived fromsuch user items. For example, information available from a user item maybe utilized to access additional or related information, such as may bestored by an associated one of third party systems 141-142 (e.g.,account databases, membership databases, electronic address routingtables, telephone number directory data, etc.). Pieces of suchunverified shipper information (e.g., shipper information which has notbeen verified for use in providing known shipper information) may beutilized in combination with other pieces of shipper information, suchas through transaction matrix analysis of embodiments herein, may beutilized to deterring shipper identification risk level rather thanrelied upon singularly to provide known shipper information.

Once obtained by a shipper, unknown shipper indicia having shipperinformation associated therewith according to embodiments of theinvention may be used in obtaining particular levels of shippingservices from a shipping service provider. For example, shipper 180 mayapply unknown shipper indicium 170 to item 190, such as may comprise aparcel or other item to be transported to a recipient associated withaddressee information 192. Various information may be provided to orassociated with item 190, such as return address information 191 andaforementioned addressee information 192, which may be utilizedaccording to embodiments of the invention. For example, return addressinformation 191 may be utilized as shipper information in transactionmatrix analysis, such as to compare to other shipper informationobtained elsewhere, for consistency to determine shipper identificationrisk level. It should be appreciated that such information associatedwith the item being shipped need not be directly present on or with theitem. For example, information such as a location at which a shippingservice provider carrier picked up the item and/or the first shippingservice provider terminal at which the item is received (e.g.,presumably the terminal most near the shipper's point of origin) may beutilized as shipper information in transaction matrix analysis forconsistency to determine shipper identification risk level according toembodiments herein.

Having described system 100 adapted to provide known shipper typeinformation for unknown shipper indicia according to embodiments of theinvention, reference is now made to FIG. 2 wherein an exemplary flowdiagram of operation to provide known shipper type information forunknown shipper indicia according to embodiments of the invention isshown. Flow 200 of FIG. 2 provides operation of system 100 to collectinformation regarding a shipper and associate the shipper informationwith unknown shipper indicia such that, when the unknown shipper indiciais used, the shipper information may be used to meet a known shipperrequirement, for example.

At block 201 of the illustrated embodiment a shipper initiates apurchase of unknown shipper indicia for use in shipping one or moreitems. For example, shipper 180 may have entered a retail establishmentoffering unknown shipper indicia for sale to the public or may haveaccessed an ecommerce site offering unknown shipper indicia for sale andinitiated a transaction for the purchase (and possibly generation) of asalable unit of unknown shipper indicia. The sale transaction may beconducted with respect to shipper 180 using point of sale system 150,computer system 160, and/or other appropriate equipment.

Shipper information is collected at block 202 of the illustratedembodiment. For example, shipper information may be provided by shipper180, input by a clerk handling the transaction, collected or derivedthrough operation of devices such as point of sale system 150, computersystem 160, postage server system 120, identification server 130, thirdparty systems 142, and/or the like. Such shipper information may becollected actively (i.e., solicited from the shipper) and/or passively(i.e., derived or collected from transaction information) according toembodiments of the invention.

In operation according to embodiments of the invention, shipper 180 maybe solicited to present identification information, such as in the formof verified identification credentials. For example, shipper 180 may besolicited to provide identification card 181 if the shipper posses suchverified identification credentials. The verified identificationcredentials of embodiments comprise identification credentials whichhave been verified or validated to a level sufficient to satisfy anapplicable known shipper requirement. For example, identification card181 may comprise a national identification card or postal identificationcard providing reliably validated proof of identity. Shipper informationas used herein may be collected directly from identification card 181for use herein. Additionally or alternatively, information fromidentification card 181 may be utilized to access an identificationdatabase or other data store, such as may be hosted by identificationserver 130, for collecting shipper information as used herein.

Other shipper information (e.g., identification credentials,debit/credit account card, biometric sample, address, telephone number,electronic/email address, etc.), which perhaps does not itself rise tothe level of known shipper information, may additionally oralternatively be collected, whether provided by the shipper or derivedfrom other information of the transaction. For example, the user may berequested to provide information such as their name, address, biometricsample (e.g., a fingerprint or iris scan collected by one of scanners153 or 163, a voice print collected by a microphone of point of saleterminal 151 or computer 161, etc.), and/or the like. Additionally oralternatively, user items, such as charge/debit card 182, membershipcard 183, check 184, and/or personal digital device 185, which may beprovided by the user in the transaction or otherwise available orpresent during the transaction, may be utilized as a source of and/orfor collecting shipper information. Accordingly, shipper information asused herein may be obtained using transaction information (e.g., paymentinformation, purchased product delivery address information, computer“fingerprint” information, etc.) from the unknown shipper indiciapurchase transaction.

In accordance with embodiments herein, information from charge/debitcard 182, such as may comprise a bank issued credit or debit card havingaccount holder information associated therewith, may directly provideidentification information useful as shipper information herein.Additionally or alternatively, information from charge/debit card 182may be utilized to access an account database or other data store, suchas may be hosted by one or more of third party systems 141-142, forcollecting shipper information as used herein. Likewise, membership card183, such as may comprise a store membership program card having memberinformation associated therewith, may be utilized to access themembership database or other data store, such as may be hosted by one ormore of third party systems 141-142, for collecting shipper informationas used herein. Information from check 184, such as may comprise anegotiable instrument having account holder information associatedtherewith, may directly provide identification information useful asshipper information herein. Additionally or alternatively, informationfrom check 184 may be utilized to access an account database or otherdata store, such as may be hosted by one or more of third party systems141-142, for collecting shipper information as used herein. Informationassociated with and/or available from digital device 185, such as maycomprise a cellular phone or personal digital assistant having anelectronic address (e.g., email address, IP address, media accesscontrol (MAC) address, etc.), phone number, and/or account holderinformation associated therewith, may be collected directly from theshipper and/or digital device 185 (e.g., using a wireless or opticallink to digital device 185). Such digital device information may be usedaccording to embodiments of the invention to access an account databaseor other data store, such as may be hosted by one or more of third partysystems 141-142, for collecting shipper information used herein.

Having collected shipper information at block 202, the illustratedembodiment proceeds to block 203 wherein a determination is made as towhether the shipper is a known shipper. That is, the shipper informationmay identify the shipper as a known shipper acceptable to receiveshipping services available to known shippers. For example, where theshipper has a verified postage metering account through a serviceprovider associated with postage server 120, the shipper may beidentified as a known shipper with respect to unknown shipper indiciausing that postage metering account (and without actually using thepostage metering account to generate postage indicia or other shippingindicia). The shipper may be identified as a known shipper through theuse of meter account information collected as shipping information atblock 202, for example. Where the shipper is purchasing unknown shipperindicia through use of computer system 160, fingerprint information forcomputer 161 (e.g., the fingerprint can be one or more of the identityof the software being used, the identity of the hardware, such as CPU,hard drive, etc., and/or like information which in the aggregateprovides a somewhat unique identity of the computer system) may be usedalone or in combination with other information (e.g., the aforementionedpostage meter account information) to identify the shipper and/or verifythe shipper's identity for use as known shipper information.

If at block 203 the shipper is determined to be a known shipper,processing according to the illustrated embodiment proceeds to block 207wherein the purchased unknown shipper indicia is activated and shipperinformation which preferably meets known shipper informationrequirements of a shipping service provider to provide shipping servicesusing the purchased unknown shipper indicia is stored in associationwith the purchased unknown shipper indicia. If, however, the shipper isnot determined to be a known shipper at block 203, processing accordingto the illustrated embodiment proceeds to block 204.

At block 204, a determination is made as to whether informationsufficient to use as known shipper information has been provided. Forexample, a postal identification card, national identification card, orother verified identification credentials (e.g., in the form ofidentification card 181) provided by the shipper may be utilized toprovide known shipper information acceptable to a shipping serviceprovider.

If at block 204 information sufficient to use as known shipperinformation is determined to have been collected, processing accordingto the illustrated embodiment proceeds to block 207 wherein thepurchased unknown shipper indicia is activated and shipper informationwhich preferably meets known shipper information requirements of ashipping service provider to provide shipping services using thepurchased unknown shipper indicia is stored in association with thepurchased unknown shipper indicia. If, however, information sufficientto use as known shipper information is determined not to have beencollected at block 204, processing according to the illustratedembodiment proceeds to block 205.

At block 205 of the illustrated embodiment, a transaction matrixanalysis is performed to determine a shipper identification risk levelregarding known shipper information. That is, because it has beendetermined that the shipper information does not indicate a knownshipper (block 203) and is not sufficient itself to use as known shipperinformation, analysis with respect to the information available from orin association with the transaction for the purchase of unknown shipperindicia is performed to determine a confidence level regarding theshipper information accurately identifying the shipper. The transactionmatrix analysis preferably operates to analyze multiple pieces ofshipper information (e.g., collected from different sources) to providea determination as to a level of risk that the shipper informationcorrectly and/or substantially uniquely identifies the shipper.Accordingly, various individual pieces of shipper information, althoughindividually not rising to the level of known shipper information (e.g.,unverified, insufficiently unique to an individual shipper, etc.) may beanalyzed using transaction matrix analysis techniques to determine thesuitability of the shipper information in the aggregate to be utilizedas known shipper information.

In operation according to embodiments, shipper identification and/orother information regarding the shipper (e.g., address information,account information etc.) as collected through separate sources of theshipper information may be cross compared to provide identityverification processing or otherwise determine consistency of theshipper information (e.g., the more consistent the information the lowerthe shipper identification risk level). Additionally or alternatively,various pieces of shipper information may be combined to provideinformation substantially uniquely identifying the shipper whereintransaction matrix analysis processing according to embodiments of theinvention may assign shipper identification risk levels as a function ofthe amount and/or type of information used in the combination (e.g., theless information in the combination the higher the shipperidentification risk level, the poorer the shipper identification qualityof the information in the combination the higher the shipperidentification risk level, etc.).

Embodiments may utilize user items for more than directly or indirectlycollecting shipper information. For example, embodiments herein mayutilize a user item, such as personal digital device 185, for theaforementioned identity verification processing. As an example of suchidentity verification processing, a shipper may provide (whetherdirectly or in directly) some form of information associated with theshipper which is not verified, such as a name or telephone number. Thisinformation may be utilized, directly or indirectly, in an identityverification process in which digital device 185 is determined to beassociated with the shipper (e.g., directly, where the aforementionedtelephone number is associated with digital device 185, or indirectly,where the aforementioned name is used to lookup the telephone number orother address of the digital device). For example, identity verificationprocessing implemented according to embodiments of the invention mayoperate to obtain global positioning system (GPS) data from digitaldevice 185 to confirm that the digital device which is presumably withits owner is in the same location (e.g., the retail establishment atwhich unknown shipper indicia are being purchased) as the shipperpurporting to be the individual which is presently purchasing unknownshipper indicia.

As another example of such identify verification processing, a shippermay scan purchased unknown shipper indicia using personal digital device185 (e.g., using a camera feature thereof according to the techniquesshown and described in the above referenced patent application entitled“Systems and Methods Using Mobile Communication Handsets for ProvidingPostage”) for purchase and/or activation of the indicia. Information(e.g., electronic address, telephone number, IP address, MAC address,etc.) identifying the personal digital device used to scan the indiciamay be utilized to access subscriber account information (e.g., storedby one or more of third party systems 141-142) and obtain shipperinformation (e.g., name, address, etc.). This shipper information may beused with other shipper information provided directly or indirectly inthe transaction to verify the shipper information. It should beappreciated that such verification techniques may be combined with othertechniques, such as to use the personal digital device locationinformation discussed above, to provide robust verification processing.

Transaction matrix analysis performed at block 205 according toembodiments of the invention is not limited to the use of informationavailable at a time of purchase of the unknown shipper indicia. Forexample, embodiments of the invention may perform a transaction matrixanalysis (or operate to supplement a previously transaction matrixanalysis) at a time of shipping the item and/or during processing of ashipped item. In operation according to embodiments of the invention,the shipping service provider may analyze information available on orwith a shipped item (e.g., return address provided on a shipping label,carrier item pickup location, first shipper terminal drop off location,etc.) in a transaction matrix analysis to determine if the informationis consistent with other shipper information (e.g., stored as shipperinformation by postage server 120 or carried as shipper information withunknown shipper indicium 170) associated with the shipping indicia borneby the item. Such analysis, where not the initial transaction matrixanalysis, may operate to alter a previously determined shipperidentification risk level determination or, where it is the initialtransaction matrix analysis, may operate to initially establish ashipper identification risk level determination.

It should be appreciated that embodiments of the invention implement amulti-level shipper information collecting technique. For example,embodiments may operate to collect some shipper information (block 202)and determine if known shipper information has been collected (block203). If known shipper information has not been collected suchembodiments may operate to collect additional shipper information(processing as described with respect to block 202 provided after block203) and determine if shipper information satisfactory to a knownshipper requirement has been collected (block 204). If shipperinformation satisfactory to a known shipper requirement has not beencollected such embodiments may operate to collect still additionalshipper information (processing as described with respect to block 202provided after block 204, such as part of the transaction matrixanalysis processing of block 205) and determine shipper identificationrisk levels. Such embodiments, where shipper information satisfactory toa known shipper requirement has not been collected, may further operateto actively solicit shipper information and/or passively gather shipperinformation for performing a transaction matrix analysis to determine ashipper identification risk level.

At block 206, a determination is made as to whether the shipperidentification risk level is high or low. For example, a shipperidentification risk level assigned to the aggregated shipper informationby transaction matrix analysis may be compared to a threshold valueestablishing a level at which shipper information is to be consideredacceptable as known shipper information. Such a threshold value may beestablished based upon the types of shipping services to be madeavailable, the type of shipping indicia to be purchased, the type ofpurchase transaction used to collect shipper information, etc.

If at block 206 the shipper identification risk level is determined tobe high (e.g., higher than the aforementioned threshold), processingaccording to the illustrated embodiment proceeds to block 208 whereinthe purchased unknown shipper indicia is activated for use with respectto shipping services. For example, where the unknown shipper indiciacomprises pre-produced indicia, the purchased unknown shipper indiciamay be included in an activated indicia database, such as may bemaintained at postage server 120, according to techniques as shown anddescribed in the above referenced patent applications entitled “Systemsand Methods for Distributed Activation of Postage” and “Systems andMethods Using Mobile Communication Handsets for Providing Postage.”Where unknown shipper indicia is generated (e.g., by postage server 120,perhaps in cooperation with point of sale system 150 or computer system160) activation of purchased unknown shipper indicia may comprise anactivation process (e.g., the aforementioned inclusion in an activateddatabase) or may be a function of the generation of the unknown shipperindicia (e.g., the generation and printing) of the unknown shipperindicia.

If, however, the shipper identification risk level is determined to below (e.g., equal to or lower than the aforementioned threshold),processing according to the illustrated embodiment proceeds to block207. At block 207 the purchased unknown shipper indicia is activated andshipper information which preferably meets known shipper informationrequirements of a shipping service provider to provide shipping servicesusing the purchased unknown shipper indicia is stored in associationwith the purchased unknown shipper indicia.

Activation of the purchased unknown shipper indicia at block 207 may beaccomplished in a number of ways. For example, as discussed above withrespect to activation of purchased unknown shipper indicia having a highshipper identification risk level, where the unknown shipper indiciacomprises pre-produced indicia, the purchased unknown shipper indiciamay be included in an activated indicia database, such as may bemaintained at postage server 120. Alternatively, where unknown shipperindicia is generated as part of or in response to the purchasetransaction (e.g., by postage server 120, perhaps in cooperation withpoint of sale system 150 or computer system 160), activation ofpurchased unknown shipper indicia may comprise an activation process(e.g., the aforementioned inclusion in an activated database) or may bea function of the generation of the unknown shipper indicia (e.g., thegeneration and printing) of the unknown shipper indicia.

Storage of shipper information at block 207 of embodiments herein maycomprise storage of some or all such shipper information in associationwith the purchased unknown shipper indicia, such as in a databaseavailable to the shipping service provider for associating the shipperinformation with information unique to the purchased unknown shipperindicia, according to embodiments of the invention. Thus the shipperinformation and/or the shipper identification risk level are preferablyassociated with particular unknown shipper indicia. For example, all thecollected shipper information, or some portion thereof (e.g., a portionof the collected shipper information sufficient to satisfy a knownshipper requirement) may be stored in a database (e.g., a database ofpostage server 120) in association with the unknown shipper indiciapurchased. In accordance with embodiments of the invention, such shipperinformation is stored in association with substantially unique indiciaidentifying information (e.g., serial number, intelligent mail bar codeinformation, information based indicia information, etc.) identifyingthe purchased unknown shipper indicia, whether each individually or aplurality of indicia purchased as part of a retail sales unit.Accordingly, as such unknown shipper indicia are processed in providingshipping services (e.g., by agents or infrastructure of shipping serviceprovider 110), or at any other time (e.g., after the occurrence of anevent whereby an investigation is made), information identifying theunknown shipper indicia may be obtained from the shipping indicia andused to access the stored shipper information.

Although the illustrated embodiment shows storing or otherwiseassociating shipping information and/or shipper identification riskinformation in association with purchased unknown shipper indicia whenthere is a known shipper, shipper information acceptable as knownshipper information is provided, or the shipper identification risk issufficiently low, embodiments may operate to store or otherwiseassociate shipper information and/or shipper identification riskinformation in association with purchased unknown shipper indicia inadditional or alternative situations. For example, some or all suchshipper information may be stored in association with the purchasedunknown shipper indicia, such as in a database available to the shippingservice provider for associating the shipper information withinformation unique to the purchased unknown shipper indicia, at block208 according to embodiments of the invention.

In embodiments where the unknown shipper indicia are generated (e.g., atblocks 207 and 208) in response to or as a function of their purchase,some or all of the foregoing shipper information and/or shipperidentification risk information may be included in association with theunknown shipper indicia itself. For example, shipper information may beprinted along with the unknown shipper indicia. The inclusion of shipperinformation with the unknown shipper indicia may be in addition to orthe alternative to the foregoing storing shipper information inassociation with unknown shipper indicia using indicia identifyinginformation.

The foregoing activation and/or storage of shipper information inassociation with unknown shipper indicia may be utilized to provideappropriate levels of shipping services according to embodiments herein.For example, a unknown shipper indicium having shipper informationstored in association therewith, or shipping information suitable formeeting a known shipper requirement, may be provided certain shippingservices while a unknown shipper indicium having no shipper informationstored in association therewith, or shipping information unsuitable formeeting a known shipper requirement, may be provided other (e.g.,restricted) shipping services.

Accordingly, at block 209, appropriate shipping services are allowed foritems bearing unknown shipper indicia using the associated shipperinformation or lack thereof. In particular, shipping information may beassociated with particular unknown shipper indicia such that itemsbearing those unknown shipper indicia are acceptable for a first groupof shipping services (e.g., shipping services using any of commoncarriers and/or private carriers for transportation of shipped items)while unknown shipper indicia having no shipper information or shipperinformation insufficient to meet a known shipper requirement arerestricted to a second group of shipping services (e.g., shippingservices which do not use common carriers for transportation of shippeditems). Shipping information herein for providing the first group ofshipping services may be collected as known shipper information, shipperinformation determined to meet a known shipper requirement, or shipperinformation for which shipper identification risk is determined to besufficiently low. Accordingly, depending upon the shipper identificationrisk level, items bearing the unknown shipper indicia may be acceptablefor a first group of shipping services (e.g., shipping services usingany of common carriers and/or private carriers for transportation ofshipped items) or restricted to a second group of shipping services(e.g., shipping services which do not use common carriers fortransportation of shipped items).

Although first and second groups of shipping services are mentionedabove, it should be appreciated that shipper information of embodimentsof the invention may be utilized with respect to parsing items to beshipped between any number of shipping services. For example, onlyshipping information directly meeting a known shipper requirement of ashipping service provider may be designated as suitable for all shippingservices, while shipping information determined to have a low shipperidentification risk level may be designated as suitable for all shippingservices except those of a highest security or safety level, andshipping information determined to have a high shipper identificationrisk level may be restricted to only shipping services of a lowestsecurity or safety level.

Embodiments of the invention may utilize shipping information herein toprovide controls with respect to the use of unknown shipper indicia inaddition to or in the alternative to the aforementioned parsing betweengroups of shipping services available. For example, unknown shipperindicia for which no shipper information or a shipper identificationrisk level does not meet a known shipper requirement implemented by theshipping service provider may be rendered invalid for use with certaintypes of items (e.g., a unknown shipper indicium may be activated foruse with respect to any shipping services, but only for particular itemssuch as envelopes or flats). Embodiments may provide combinations of theforegoing restrictions/permissions, such as to render the unknownshipper indicia invalid if used with some items (e.g., large parcels),to define particular groups of shipping services available if used withsome items (e.g., small parcels), and to define other groups of shippingservices available if used with some items (e.g., envelopes and flats).

From the foregoing it can be appreciated that a shipping serviceprovider (e.g., shipping service provider 110), when accepting an item(e.g., item 190) for shipment and/or when processing the item duringshipment, may use the unknown shipper indicia (e.g., shipping indicium170) to access shipper information associated therewith (e.g., as storedby postage server 120). The shipping service provider may use thisshipping information, or lack thereof, to provide an appropriate levelof shipping services. Accordingly, known shipper type restrictions maybe implemented even with such unknown shipper indicia as fungibleshipping indicia purchased by casual shippers to provide risk mitigationand security with respect to the use of particular forms of conveyance(e.g., commercial passenger aircraft 112) when shipping items. Moreover,shipper information collected according to embodiments of the inventionmay be utilized in discouraging, detecting, and/or investigating fraudwith respect to the use of unknown shipper indicia (e.g., the reuse ofindicia, the duplication of indicia, etc.).

Although the present invention and its advantages have been described indetail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions andalterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, thescope of the present application is not intended to be limited to theparticular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, compositionof matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. Asone of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from thedisclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture,compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing orlater to be developed that perform substantially the same function orachieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodimentsdescribed herein may be utilized according to the present invention.Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within theirscope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter,means, methods, or steps.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a shipping label comprisingan unactivated pre-printed unknown shipper indicium, wherein the unknownshipper indicium does not itself include shipper identificationinformation of a shipper using the unknown shipper indicium for shippingservices, wherein the unknown shipper indicium is a value bearingpostage indicium when activated, and wherein the unknown shipperindicium includes indicia identifying information that identifies theunknown shipper indicium; an activated indicia database configured tostore data records associated with activation of unknown shipperindicia; an activation server communicatively coupled to the activatedindicia database and comprising one or more processors configured to:receive, from a processor-based point of sale (POS) system, shipperinformation of a shipper using the unknown shipper indicium duringactivation of the unknown shipper indicium based on a transactionconducted via the processor-based POS system; determine whether theshipper information received from the processor-based POS system meets aknown shipper identification level; activate the unknown shipperindicium as a known shipper value bearing indicium having known shipperinformation associated therewith based on the shipper informationreceived from the processor-based POS system meeting the known shipperidentification level, wherein the unknown shipper indicium is activatedas an unknown shipper value bearing indicium not meeting a known shipperrequirement when the shipper information received from theprocessor-based POS system does not meet the known shipperidentification level, wherein a first group of shipping services areavailable to the shipper using the unknown shipper indicium activated asthe unknown shipper value bearing indicium not meeting the known shipperrequirement and a second group of shipping services are available to theshipper using the unknown shipper indicium activated as the knownshipper value bearing indicium having known shipper informationassociated therewith, wherein the second group of shipping servicesincludes at least one service that is different from the first group ofshipping services, and wherein the activation of the unknown shipperindicium as the known shipper value bearing indicium comprises: storingthe shipper information received from the processor-based POS system atthe activated indicia database in association with a recordcorresponding to the unknown shipper indicium; initially restricting useof a mail stream of a shipping service provider to ship a mail itembearing the unknown shipper indicium to at least one service of thefirst group of shipping services; receive additional shipper informationfrom sources other than the transaction conducted via theprocessor-based POS system wherein the activation of the unknown shipperindicium is based on the additional shipper information; alter the knownshipper identification level based on the additional shipper informationmeeting the known shipper requirement; and in response to alteration ofthe known shipper identification level, allow shipment of the mail itembearing the unknown shipper indicium using at least one service of thesecond group of shipping services that the shipment of the mail item wasinitially restricted to.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the unknownshipper indicium activated as the unknown shipper value bearing indiciumnot meeting the known shipper requirement is invalid for use with one ormore types of items to be shipped and the unknown shipper indiciumactivated as the known shipper value bearing indicium having knownshipper information associated therewith is valid for use with the oneor more types of items to be shipped.
 3. The system of claim 1, whereinthe record associates the at least a portion of the shipper informationwith the unknown shipper indicium using the indicia identifyinginformation.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the activated indiciadatabase comprises a database of a postage server available for use by ashipping service provider providing the shipping services.
 5. The systemof claim 1, wherein the processor-based POS system comprises a scannerand at least one input device, wherein the scanner is operable to scanthe unknown shipper indicium for the processor-based POS system toactivate the unknown shipper indicium, and wherein the at least oneinput device is operable to receive input of at least a portion of theshipper information collected by the processor-based POS system.
 6. Thesystem of claim 5, wherein the unknown shipper indicium comprises ashipping indicium of a plurality of unactivated pre-printed fungibleshipping indicia for purchase in a retail establishment.
 7. The systemof claim 5, wherein the unknown shipper indicium comprises a shippingindicium of a plurality of unknown shipper indicia of a retail salesunit, wherein activation of the unknown shipper indicium by theprocessor-based POS system is operable to activate all unknown shipperindicia of the retail sales unit.
 8. The system of claim 5, wherein atleast a portion of the shipper information is used with the unknownshipper indicium activated as the value bearing postage indicium havingknown shipper information associated therewith to meet a known shipperrequirement of a shipping service provider providing the shippingservices.
 9. The system of claim 5, wherein the shipper information iscollected by the processor-based POS system indirectly using informationprovided to the input device.
 10. The system of claim 5, wherein a userdevice of the shipper using the unknown shipper indicium provides atleast a portion of the shipper information.
 11. The system of claim 10,wherein the user device provides current location information and theprocessor-based POS system is operable to confirm a location of theshipper for activating the unknown shipper indicium as the value bearingpostage indicium having known shipper information associated therewith.12. The system of claim 1, wherein the known shipper identificationlevel comprises a shipper identification risk level.
 13. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the known shipper identification level comprises athreshold value establishing a level at which shipper information is tobe considered acceptable as known shipper information.
 14. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the threshold value is established based upon a typeof shipping indicia of the unknown shipper indicium.
 15. A systemcomprising: a shipping label comprising an unactivated pre-printedunknown shipper indicium, wherein the unknown shipper indicium does notitself include shipper identification information of a shipper using theunknown shipper indicium for shipping services, wherein the unknownshipper indicium is a value bearing postage indicium when activated, andwherein the unknown shipper indicium includes indicia identifyinginformation that identifies the unknown shipper indicium; an activatedindicia database configured to store data records associated withactivation of unknown shipper indicia; an activation servercommunicatively coupled to the activated indicia database and comprisingone or more processors configured to: receive shipper information of ashipper using the unknown shipper indicium from a processor-based pointof sale (POS) system during activation of the unknown shipper indiciumbased on a transaction conducted via the processor-based POS system;determine a shipper identification risk level for the shipperinformation: and determine if the shipper identification risk levelmeets a known shipper identification level based on information capturedby the processor-based POS system during the transaction; activate theunknown shipper indicium as a known shipper value bearing indiciumhaving known shipper information associated therewith when the shipperidentification risk level meets the known shipper identification level,wherein the unknown shipper indicium is activated as an unknown shippervalue bearing indicium not meeting a known shipper requirement when theshipper identification risk level does not meet the known shipperidentification level, and wherein the activation of the unknown shipperindicium as the known shipper value bearing indicium comprises: storingthe shipper information received from the processor-based POS system atthe activated indicia database in association with a recordcorresponding to the unknown shipper indicium, initially restricting useof shipping services provided via a mail stream of a shipping serviceprovider with respect to mail items associated with one or moreactivated unknown shipper value bearing indicia not meeting the knownshipper requirement based upon the shipper identification risk level;receiving additional shipper information from sources other than thetransaction conducted via the processor-based POS system; altering theshipper identification risk level based on the additional shipperinformation meeting the known shipper requirement; and allowing shipmentof a mail item bearing the unknown shipper indicium using initiallyrestricted shipping services provided via the mail stream in response toalteration of the known shipper identification level based on theadditional shipper information meeting the known shipper requirement.16. The system of claim 15, wherein a first group of shipping servicesare available to the shipper using the activated value bearing indiciumor a second group of shipping services are available to the shipperusing the activated value bearing indicium based on the determinedshipper identification risk level, wherein one or more shipping serviceis different between the first group of shipping services and the secondgroup of shipping services.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein theactivated value bearing indicium is invalid for use with one or moretypes of items to be shipped or the activated value bearing indicium isvalid for use with the one or more types of items to be shipped based onthe determined shipper identification risk level.